Does Washington Owe Toyota an Apology?

[HeadChef]

The more I think about this whole Toyota thing U.S. Department of Transportation Releases Results from NHTSA-NASA Study of Unintended Acceleration in Toyota Vehicles | National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), the more ****ed off I get - and I don't even own a Toyota. After a year of trashing the company's cars, the government is just saying, "oops, my bad" and shrugging their shoulders Toyota outrage turns to shrugs - TheHill.com. This could have happened to any car company. I know they're big corporations, but WTF?

I know I can't be the only person who feels this way Does Washington Owe Toyota an Apology? - FoxNews.com, amirite?

 

[ChileFarmer]

Yes, I think the government should apologize and pay back the 48 million they charged in fines. Matter of fact I think the government should apologize To the whole country for being so screwed up. CF

 

[Mama Mangia]

Government? What government? Do we have a government?
I thought they were just low class spending leeches without a brain -

 

[chubbyalaskagriz]

First, let me just say something that's neither here nor there. I'm glad the Fox News clip provided did not feature Glenn Beck. I absolutely abhor that man- I think he's a lying sensationalist fear-mongerer and I think even HE is amazed that he has a job and that so many of the American public believes him.

Not that that's off my chest...

I agree that we absolutely should return the money we mistakenly fined Toyota. If we're an honorable people w/ honorable intentions and if truth means anything returning the money and apologizing is the only honorable option.

That said- I have never owned a Toyota. I tend to buy American vehicles. But I have one bit of glowing praise to pass on and share...

When living in Alaska it was extremely important to have a vehicle that was heavy (to use on slippery roads) and durable that started when cold and lasted a long time.

Whenever anyone was seeking a used rig I many times heard folks say that in Alaska and other wintr'y locales one should only buy a Suburu a Saab or a Toyota because all of them were outstanding winter cars.

And to take it a step further, I also often heard that if you ever look for a used car in the classifieds you almost never find a used Toyota for sale. Why? Because they ran forever- had a much longer life than any other vehicle and once people owned them they never wanted to get rid of them- they drove them until they were DEAD.

THAT sends a fantastic message of outstanding performance and incredible customer approval in my eyes!

 

[jpshaw]

A lot of the complaints about products comes from stupid consumers. A few years back there was a big stink about a certain brand of SUV they clained would roll over more then a normal car. DUH! If you want to sit WAY up high guess what. The center of gravety of that thing is going to be higher also. A tall vehicle with a low center of gravity is not going to happen, They demand something, then get it and finally complain because the Physics of the thing is normal. I always fiqured a lot of the stuff about Toyota was driver error.

 

[ricksrealpitbbq]

Washington owes every American an apology. And quite honestly, Political affiliation, race, nor gender has anything to do with it. If the founding fathers were alive today, they'd be labeled terrorists. I've lost faith in our political system. I'm waiting for the next Constitutional Convention

 

[Dilbert]

Washington owes nothing to Toyota. go forth and research. the fines were assessed / charged / levied based on the _LAW_ that specific defects issues MUST be reported.

Federal law requires incidences of failure in specific "safety" related "systems" be reported so the government - like 'em or not - can investigate and determine if there is or is not a real problem.

Toyota was fined - should have been three or four hundred times that amount, imho - for not only not reporting the potential safety related issues but actively conspiring to "cover up" the consumer reported issues.

if you lie to the IRS, not only do you have to pay the taxes owed, you get hit with penalties up to and including jail time. Toyota lied, cheated and concealed. they forthrightly owe all the fines and then some.

 

[chubbyalaskagriz]

Washington owes nothing to Toyota. go forth and research. the fines were assessed / charged / levied based on the _LAW_ that specific defects issues MUST be reported.

Federal law requires incidences of failure in specific "safety" related "systems" be reported so the government - like 'em or not - can investigate and determine if there is or is not a real problem.

Toyota was fined - should have been three or four hundred times that amount, imho - for not only not reporting the potential safety related issues but actively conspiring to "cover up" the consumer reported issues.

if you lie to the IRS, not only do you have to pay the taxes owed, you get hit with penalties up to and including jail time. Toyota lied, cheated and concealed. they forthrightly owe all the fines and then some.

You offer a compelling perspective Dil- but I am not persuaded. No biggy, there's room for two trains of thought.

 

[Dilbert]

it's not really a question of perspective.

Federal law requires reporting specific defects / suspected defects. there's a couple of other instances: Corsair, Pinto, Explorer.

various Toyota employees and executives not only failed to report, they actively engaged in a campaign to minimize, reclassify, deny, and other overt actions to preclude an investigation. it's called "obstruction of justice."

if you are called to testify before a Grand Jury and lie / evade providing truthful information - whether you are / are not personally involved / liable in the alleged wrong-doing or simply know about it, that's obstruction.

that's the basis of the Toyota fines. it's representative of the political and business leadership focus of today. Lie&Deny until you get caught and hopefully you don't get caught and financially it's a better deal even if you do get caught.

which is the basis of my opinion that the fines need to be about 300x the actual - it needs to become so expensive to lie&hope to not get caught that crime doesn't pay.

think about it,,,, as the technical reports now support - right or wrong, du'jour - if Toyota had fessed up, followed the law, been honest and reported "heh we have reports of XYZ and we're looking into it" they could have saved themselves $48.8 million in fines and been.

they tried to 'beat the system' - didn't work - and as the technical reports stand today, all for naught.